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 Many cites have
served as either the capitals of China dynasties or the capitals of smaller states in
the periods when China was broken up. Among all ancient Chinese dynasty capital cities, Beijing and Nanjing are most important and influential
in China's history. They are named "Northern capital" and "Southern capital" respectively
in general public, each has been the capital several times in the
history. Virtually all ancient China dynasty capitals are now tourist
destinations, while a large number of the preserved empire
buildings representing the architectural style of different China
dynasties, empire gardens and various palaces that once served
emperors and their families in capital cities of various Chinese
dynasties have become key attractions open to domestic and foreign tourists.
The following is the China dynasty timeline, including the capital city for each
Chinese dynasty.
It is a legend that "three sovereigns and five emperors"
(三皇五帝) first ruled China from 2853BC to
2205BC. These
sovereigns
and emperors were mythical God-resembling kings. That would be the 1st China
dynasty. Where the capital city was located during this Chinese dynasty remains unknown.
Dynasty Xia (Chinese: 夏朝) is said to have have
 ruled the Yellow River valley
region from 2100 BC to 1600 BC.
But some historians consider this more like a story than history. Nevertheless,
the archaeological studies have revealed that at the very least, a primitive form of Chinese
civilization had already been developed in that period of China dynasty.
 The first
recorded China dynasty in the history is Shang dynasty
(Chinese: 商朝),
with a timeline span between 1700 BC to 1027 BC. Shang Dynasty ruled China only
in a small area around Yellow River valley.
The capital for Shang Dynasty was in Anyang city in Henan province.
The Zhou Dynasty
(Chinese: 周朝), 1027BC to 221 BC, had their first
capital in Hao near Xi'an. After a long lasted war in 771 BC, Zhou dynasty
changed its name to East Zhou dynasty and moved its capital to Luoyang in Henan
Province.
The Zhou
dynasty is the longest Chinese dynasty in China's history, lasted
about 800 years. A series of severe political turmoil happened during
the East Zhou dynasty when feudal lords repeatedly fought for power. That
period of East Zhou dynasty is also called the "Spring and Autumn Period"
(Chinese: 春秋时代), during which a
number of prominent philosophers like Confucius and Laozi
had lived.
Immediately after the "Spring and Autumn Period" in East Zhou dynasty
was
the Warring States period (Chinese: 战国时代).
During the Warring States period , then Chinese territory was broken
up into seven different states.
China Qin Dynasty
(Chinese: 秦朝), 221BC to 206 BC, defeated the Zhou
dynasty and the six other feudal states
for the first time to unify a region that later became the original
territory of China. A centralized system governing China was introduced
in the Qin dynasty. Capital city for the Qin dynasty was Xianyang, a smaller city near Xi'an.
Name "China", was originated from dynasty's name,
"Qin".
China Han Dynasty
(Chinese: 汉朝), 206 BC to 220 AD,
first set its capital in Chang'an,
also nearby Xi'an city during Western Han dynasty, and then moved to Luoyang during
the Eastern Han dynasty. The famous "silk road", a symbol of China's early
opening to the word, was an important event in Han dynasty. Today,
China's majority ethnic group had inherited the name of "Han" dynasty
and the Chinese characters are also called Han characters. The Han
dynasty is considered as the initial rapid civilization period
 in
the ancient Chinese dynasty history.
When the Han dynasty collapsed, China was once again broken up into the three states,
i.e., Wei (Chinese: 魏), Shu
(Chinese: 蜀) and Wu
(Chinese: 吴). They are collectively referred
as the Three Kingdoms (Chinese: 三国).
Even though as a Chinese dynasty the Three Kingdoms had lasted for only 60 some years, it has
been praised as a greatly romanticized period in the Chinese history. The capitals
of the three states were located in Luoyang, Chengdu and Nanjing respectively.
China Jin Dynasty
(Chinese: 晋朝) briefly re-unified China from 280
to 317. Though Jin dynasty continued to exist until 420, they only controlled a small area. During the unified period, the capital
city for Jin dynasty was at Luoyang and later Chang'an. Then for a few hundred years
during the Jin dynasty, 317-581, China was
once again divided into many states. Capitals for various important states included Luoyang, Nanjing and Suzhou.
Spanning from 581 to 618, Sui dynasty (Chinese: 隋朝)
was a short-lived China dynasty. However, the Sui dynasty managed to reunify China
as a country. The Sui dynasty
set its capital in Chang'an.
Tang Dynasty
(Chinese: 唐朝), 618-907, had couple capital
cities in Chang'an and Luoyang.
Tang dynasty was the golden age for the Chinese culture, particularly
the Chinese poetry. The Tang Dynasty also initiated and developed the imperial examination system in an attempt to appoint officials based on abilities rather than family
backgrounds. The Tang dynasty is considered by most Chinese scholars as
the be the second
highest point in China's civilization. Chinatowns are seen all
over the world today. In fact, the nickname for Chinatown in Chinese is "Tang People's Street"
(Chinese: 唐人街) .
After the Tang dynasty, China was then divided once again for about 50 years,
during that short period of Chinese dynasty history, China was under control of several small
and short-lived states. The capitals for the various states included Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Yangzhou, Changsha and many others.
Song dynasty
(Chinese 宋朝), 960-1279, had its capital in Kaifeng until the Jurchens took
the control. Jurchens moved the capital to Nanjing and later to Hangzhou. The Mongols
eventually defeated the Jurchens and conquered the Song empire in the end. Marco Polo, who was in Hangzhou a few years after the Mongol conquest, describes it as one of the richest and most beautiful cities on Earth.
The Yuan dynasty
(Chinese: 元朝), or Mongol, 1279-1368, used the area that is now Beijing as their capital.
Ming dynasty
(明朝), 1368-1644, initially chose Nanjing as their capital
and then had it moved to Beijing. Most of the famous ancient buildings in Beijing,
including Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven, were constructed right in the Ming
dynasty. Many of the most popular Chinese fictions such as "Journey to The West", "Water Margin" and "Romance of The Three Kingdoms" were
written during the Ming Dynasty.
Qing dynasty
(Chinese 清朝), 1644-1911, being called Manchu in some
occasions, was the last dynasty of China. Qing dynasty used Beijing as the capital, but at the same time had their own Manchu capital
in Shenyang.
The Republic of China
(Chinese: 中华民国), which was ruled primarily by the
Nationalists from 1911 to 1949, had the capital in Nanjing. During the World War
II, Chongqing was also used as a temporary capital when Japanese invaded Nanjing.
Beijing has been the capital of the People's Republic of China
(Chinese: 中华人民共和国) since end of the civil war in 1949.
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